Entropy Part 1: The Fourth Wall Initiative
by RelativeEntanglement
Summary: When Equestria is on the brink of war with a rival nation,a group of bronies and a group assembled by Pinkie Pie discover that Discord is planning to return and wreak havoc upon all of existence. Can they stop him before Equestria is thrown in to war?
1. Vinyl Scratches' day at work

It was an ordinary day for Vinyl Scratch as she walked home from the office. As well as being one of the most popular Disc Jockeys in Equestria, she held the title of High Administrator. Among the duties the Princesses and Vinyl had to deal with, one of the more pressing were the problem of the Paramite Confederacy, a nation constantly making trouble. Usually, Vinyl took care of it, but her words would not sway the new empress as easily as they did the last.

"_I__ miss __the__ old __Equestria__…__before __the __need __for __an__ administrator_"she thought. When she finally arrived at her house, she was greeted by a cacophonous noise and a Pinkie Pie shaped hole in her front door."Care to use the front door!" Vinyl hollered at Pinkie.

"Nope! I was in a hurry!" Pinkie Shouted back. Vinyl stepped forward and retook control of her equipment from Pinkie Pie, and turned the blaring noises into a smooth and connected mix

"What are your trying to do Pinkie."

"Producing! Just like you DJ"

"You got most of it right…you were a little off on this one though." Upon hearing this, Pinkie flattened her ears in sadness. She looked up at Vinyl with big, teary eyes. "I guess I'll never be as good as you."

"Don't say things like that Pinkie….Im sure-"

She was cut off by a knock at the door. Vinyl peered through the hole to see who it was. It was Ditzy Doo, the neighborhood mail pony. "Hey Guys! I've got mail for…..Vinyl Scratch!"

"And I've got a muffin for you, bubbles" Vinyl Scratch threw her a banana nut muffin. Ditzy threw her the mail in return. "Got any time to spare today?"

"No, I got three full bags to deliver to Appleoosa." Ditzy said with a tired sigh.

"All the way out there! Mr. Stamp is crazy."

"The mail can't fail" With that Ditzy flew off to finish her job.

Vinyl Scratch opened her letter. It was a notice that they needed her to be at the office to finish a treaty for the paramites. She thought for a minute, an idea formulation in her head. She took off her glasses, letting her deep red eyes drift toward Pinkie.

"How would you like to go in my place at AppleJam tonight? You're an amazing DJ and I think its time you got some recognition. And I have some things to do at the office." Vinyl asked, knowing the answer.

Pinkie stuttered and rambled, trying to form coherent words. Finally, she sputtered out, "Y-Y-You want m-me to do your show! I WOULD BE HONORED! OKIE DOKIE LOKIE!" She ran off leaving a trail of words behind her,"Im gonna tap the rainbow reactor, and put on a light show, and ask Kelly what…." She finally ran out of earshot. Vinyl smiled, knowing that she was going to rock everypony's world. "_Everypony __except __for __me __that__ is.__" _She sighed and left to pull Equestria back from the brink of war.

It was about midnight when Vinyl Scratch finally left the office. The bright lights of Sweet Apple Acres still lit the sky like a flashlight in a dark world. She wondered how Applejack and Big Mac were going to pay the energy bills for such a amazing light show. Then she remembered what Pinkie pie said about tapping the rainbow factories reactor. "That crazy pony…." She mumbled to herself. She reached her house. It want a house, but actually a 2 million bit mansion, complete with a recording studio, pool, even a garden. All of this was underground. So far down underground that her friend Octavia helped build a bomb shelter for her with her unusual knowledge of construction. Vinyl never used most of her house though. It was too much for her. She often used the extra space to give some of the homeless ponies around town a place to sleep for a night or two, and even then, there was too much space.

Vinyl Scratch found herself staring at her front door. _"__Even__ her __hair__…__.how __does __she __do__ that__…__.__" _ She stepped into her house and cleared away the splinters of her broken door using her magic. She climbed down the stairs into her relaxation chamber. She slipped into her red velvet robe, grabbed a cup of coffee, and put in her "enhancers" as she called them. Two sugar cubes, one tablespoon of cream. No more, no less. She thumbed through a pile of CDs, and picked one she found herself listening to a lot. "Adagio for strings: Lyra-Octavia Duet, in G minor" Vinyl had a lot of odd musical selections that Pinkie Pie gave to her on occasion. She popped it in, and plopped down into her beanbag chair. With a sip of her coffee, she began to fall asleep to the sweet sounds of lyre and bass.

(Im new to this place and the notions of fan fictions. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks!)


	2. Discovery

It was three in the morning when Vinyl Scratch had awoken. The coffee had dried into a brown stain on the tile, and the mug had shattered into a few pieces of cracked ceramic. Levitating a broom, and dustpan, she cleared away the broken pieces and put them in the trash bin in the corner. She would deal with the coffee spill later. She found herself in the middle of the room, trying to remember what had woken her. She wasn't really one for waking up at odd hours. She recalled a dull humming noise, constant and unceasing. In a dream, she tried to find the source of the humming, but to no avail. She looked around, taking stock of her situation. Through the haziness of the post-sleep mind, the humming registered again. "A low C#, just liked I dreamed about." Through her time trying to learn what "real" music was from Octavia, she had picked up an ability to identify all sorts of different sounds by their pitch.

She was fully awake now, and found the source of the humming to be below her. She donned her glasses, because her performance specs were too cumbersome. A tile on the ground was loose. She had never built another level to her complex, however. She touched the loose panel, and four other panels around them slid around to reveal a stairwell. The small amount of light emanating from the end of the passage revealed the shadowy figure of a pony. Vinyl Scratch ran upstairs, and grabbed a shotgun and a few shells. She always stopped to look at the weapon, admiring it beauty, and the craftsmanship that went into it. Princess Luna had built it, and given it to Vinyl as a birthday present. While imprisoned on the moon, Luna had taken up rifle making and smithing as a hobby. When asked why, she always responded, "A thousand years is a long time. I had to do _something _with all the resources I had around." This particular gun had a silver plated double barrel, a black finish and glossed loading mechanism, and a stock cut from one of the Apple family's oldest trees, and glossed lightly with amber to give it a more golden look. Vinyl headed downstairs on her hind legs, holding the gun in her hooves. She couldn't levitate it, or else the magic field would break the weapon. She awkwardly headed down the stairs, struggling a little to keep her balance. She finally reached the bottom of the staircase. The light came from a computer screen.

"Who are you?"

No response.

She cocked her weapon and pointed it the head of the pony in front of her. The pony slid off a pair of headphones and swiveled around in the chair she was sitting in. Pinkie pie had the gun right between her eyes.

"Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie had gone cross eyed to look at the barrels. "Put the gun down, Vinyl, I can explain…." She turned around, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and the room was flooded with light. Vinyl Scratch cringed at the light, but her eyes adjusted to reveal an astounding sight. There was a row of interfaces in the front, all connected to six super computers. The computers branded the logo of Appeloosa University. They were six of the famous Appleseed Processors. Super computers built by Appleseed of the Apple family. They were the source of the humming, and took up most of the space. Connected to them also was a machine covered with a tarp. Vinyl Scratch tried to find a word, but when she opened her mouth, and incomprehensible stream of semi-formed questions babbled out like a spilling drink. She tried again, this time with a coherent sentence.

"Pinkie Pie, what is all of this?"

Pinkie Pie gave a shrug and a childish "I dunno." She smiled to help the situation, but Vinyl saw through her. Vinyl Scratch raised her voice as well as her weapon.

"Pinkie, you had better tell me. What is all of this! Where did you get all of those! Why is it under my house!"

Pinkie sighed. "I'm sorry Vinyl, I should have told you in the first place. I'll tell you everything. About a year ago, when you first left me alone to mix, I kept getting interference from an outside source. I changed the configuration on your equipment to eliminate it, and went along my business. Six months later, around the time we had trouble with the Confederacy, I started getting it again, stronger this time. I tracked it…..nopony could have produced this kind of signal. It had to be from another universe. And it was. I realized I needed a LOT more power, so I sold my home and moved into sugar cube corner. I had this built under your place; it was the only place the signal went. And then-"

Vinyl cut her off, wanting to know about the computers. "What about the Appleseeds, Pinkie, where did you get those computers?"

Pinkie stammered a bit. "Well, heh, I kinda…..borrowed them…without permission."

"YOU STOLE THE APPLESEED PROCCESORS!" Vinyl screamed. She facehooved hard enough to hurt.

"They were the only thing powerful enough to get the job done! Anyway, I've been decoding the signal ever since. Whoever sent it, they speak the same language."

"What about that machine over there?" Vinyl inquired.

"That's a quantum vibrator." Vinyl couldn't resist a chuckle.

"Shut up Vinyl, get your head out of the gutter, this is important. Now, the very fundamental universe is made up of vibrating strings. The frequency they vibrate at determines how the universe works, and blah, blah, blah. The important thing is, that machine tunes the strings of the universe to vibrate on a different frequency. Like tuning a guitar. If I'm right, we can tune this place to their world, and respond."

"Respond to what?" Vinyl asked.

Pinkie Pie handed her the headphones. Vinyl put her ear to them. A static and garbled voice came through them.

"This is the fourth wall initiative. If anyone can hear this, please respond."

Vinyl put the headphones down…."Why can't you respond?"

"Because, I don't know how to make it work. Even Ditzy tried her hand on it. Nothing."

Vinyl Scratch looked at the machine, and then back at Pinkie.

"Go home. Get some rest. Tomorrow, were going to see Twilight Sparkle. If anypony can help us, it would be her."


	3. Myths in the Moonlight

CH 3

In canterlot castle, the elder princess watched the land of Equestria shrouded in darkness. Everypony was sleeping soundly, with the exception of the guards, the occasional star crossed lovers, and whoever just decided to stay up. Celestia loved to go out a few hours before she ended the night. The 1000 years she spent making the night weren't her favorite. The night sky was so foreboding and Ominous, symbolic of what the maker of night was going to do. But now that Luna was back, the night sky was changed, and it was elegant, graceful, and peaceful. Celesetia sighed, and thought about the trouble with the confederacy. A little while back, they had had a revolution, and they had restored the old pre discordian traditions of emperors, and honor, and something pinkie pie called "ninjas." They were relatively quiet before, but now, ever since empress jezebel came along 7 years ago, things were starting to get out of hand. The Equestrian economy was starting to decline ever since the confederacy boycotted equestrian goods_. A rich nation like them should be able to pay a 4% magic tax. _She spit. The princess had this habit of spitting when she was stressed. At least it wasn't a poison joke cigar, which she had recently kicked the habit of smoking.

"Celly! Hello sister!" Princess Luna called out. Celestia often had the floors waxed, and Luna, who was still a little filly at heart, loved to slide around her socks and be a bowling ball, or a ballerina, or a gust of wind, or a kite. Whatever glided.

"Oh Luna, you startled me. What's with all the sliding?"

"I'm having fun, you should give it a try sometime."

"Maybe I will, when Equestria isn't about to be attacked with a nuclear weapon. Come over here and move the moon over. I need to raise the sun remember?"

Luna giggled. "Ok sis, you got it." She moved the moon in the way of the sun, causing a solar eclipse, and prolonging the night for a little while. Celestia hit her in the shoulder.

"Cut it out Luna, we can't be screwing with things as big as the sun and moon! Now move it over and I'll raise the sun."

Luna did what she was told. It was now morning in Equestria. And Sezia, land of the griffons. And in the Paramite confederacy.

"Celly, when the Sezian ambassador, what was her name... Tezzella...I think. When she gets here, and when advisor Kree comes here from the confederacy, what do vinyl scratch and I say?"

"Well, even though the Sezia and Equestria are peaceful term...I don't know Luna. I just do not know. "She sighed silently, and looked up into the morning sky, thinking the future. If it came to war, Equestria had only one chance. The guardsmen were amazing warriors, but they can't fight wars. But there were the caches. And the weapon of prophesy. They might be equestria's last hope. "Those old rumors aren't true Celly. You know it..." she murmured to herself.  
>"Luna, go get ready for the meeting. Go find vinyl and bring her back here. You guys need to be in trottingham in about trois heures. "<p>

"Stop speaking fancy...aren't you going?"

"I uh, I have something to do here" celestia said grimly. With that, she left Luna there on the balcony, and retreated to her private study.

In the study, there was a great many things dedicated to politics, science, magic, and philosophy. Books, alchemy sets, plant specimens, political documents, fauna from the different biomes of the world. Magic sets and spells books, incantations from all over the world. The room was dark and disorganized in stark contrast to the rest of canterlot castle. In the middle of the room there was a document protected by a glass frame. It was a prophecy recovered from the vault of resilience, a huge, ancient, underground complex unearthed in manehattan. It was also the focus of celestia's studies since it was found. This document was the prophecy of preservation, written by the Precceeders, whoever they were. Celestia took the book with care and set it on the table. Her objective was to decode this tome, and she was almost finished. She had only a few paragraphs left to decipher before the book was complete. So, for the next few hours, that's what she did. She wrote and movies the blocks on her decoder cube. Then, it was finished. The prophesy was readable at last. Celestia began to read it, and her eyes widened in horror.

"We are the elder race, the precceeders, and the ones that came before. We are gone now, and if you are reading this, then you have proven your worth and sentience to us. Hark, for a great evil is upon you. One who was defeated twice, once by two, and once three by two, shall rise again, and lead the nations of America against you. Eyes of amber and red will join the six bonded in friendship, and they will bond with one from next plane. They are the hope of Equestria. Do not doubt them, do not question them. Entropy must not win. The coming years will shake the ground with war, and the skies will become black. The seas will boil, and men shall lose their mettle. Hold fast, reader, and the world will be saved. Hidden, we have caches. Full of aid. And the skyhawk is yours to command. We will also bequeath to you our technology. This is ours, which we give to you in faith. Steer the world toward justice, steer the world toward unity. Toward love and tolerance. My little ponies, always remember that friendship is magic."

Celestia put down the book. She shouted for the guards.

Swordmaster! Iron sight! Come here!"

When the two guards came, Celestia ordered them to bring a message to twilight sparkle. She said this aloud

"twilight sparkle-  
>You are needed in canterlot. Bring your friends, and bring ditzy the mailpony. This is of the utmost importance, and it is imperative you get here before the moon rises.<br>-Celestia"

"When you give this to her, bring them here. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

The guards flew off, leaving Celestia with a worried look. The inhabitants of the castle looked upon her oddly as she walked...and spat.


	4. Twilight's Notebook

CH 4  
>It was morning. Vinyl scratch had been able to sleep much more soundly now that she knew what had been partaking underneath her home for the past six months. Celestial sunbeams shone through her bedroom curtains, illuminating the floating specks of Dust in the air, making it shimmer, with both tangible light and the feeling of waking up on a day where she didn't have to work. The light eventually roused her enough to raise one eye. The light illuminated her red iris. She glanced around looking for her clock. She found it, and it read 7:30. She closed her eye and Counted down from 5 in her head.<br>4...3...2...1...

*ding*

She smiled. Her coffee was ready. A few seconds passed, and the warm, thick smell of the roasted beans wafted into her nose. She hummed in delight, for to her, nothing was better than coffee in the morning. She slowly eased off the blankets she was under, and rose. After stretching a little bit, she lumbered, like a zombie, toward the coffee. While one of her mugs broke, she always had a steady supply on hand.

"Ah, my drug of choice..." she murmured as she poured her drink. She put in the cream and sugar and sipped. And smiled. She temporarily forgot about her business at the library, but a glance of the schedule she kept changed that. A recount of the night's events prompted her to get ready to face the day. She descended into the complex, where she took a wrong turn, revealing a luxurious bathhouse.

"Why is this here?"

She slipped inside, and bathed. Running water from the ceiling poured upon her while she washed, drenching her in the water straight from Everfree River. The cold shower and hot bath provided a pleasing contradiction as she ran the soap through her mane. Getting an idea, vinyl went to the restroom nearby, and grabbed a hairbrush, a toothbrush, and her toothpaste. She went to the bath to continue bathing. She started to splash around, and used her hygiene tools as toys, indulging the filly within. When she finished playing in the water, she brushed her hair and her teeth. She glanced at a mirror, and giggled. The sight of Bathing and teeth brushing at the same time was amusing. She finished up, and left. She resolved that she would have to pack a lunch later, and fully explore the complex. It bothered her that she had a home which was too big for her. She navigated back to the surface, got dressed in her saddlebags, and headed out the door. She leaned back however, and grabbed her performance specs. She chose to be known as DJ-Pon3 today. She walked about, greeting gawking fans, friends, and anypony she saw. Eventually, she arrived at sugarcube corner to collect the pink pony within.

"Hey, Mrs. Cake! What's going on!" she said as she entered.

"Oh hello vinyl! So good to see you! What brings you to sugarcube today?"

"Oh, pinkie and I have to go to the library. I'm here to get her"

At that moment, pinkie pie came down the stairs. She had just woken, and was devoid of her bright and bubbly self. For now.

"Hi vinyl...do we have to go now? I'm tired from doing...that...thing..."

Mrs. Cake chimed in

"you had better get going pinkie. It's already 1:30"

Upon hearing this, she inhaled with such force that it seemed to shake the very core of reality. Even Celestia, in the confines of her study, registered a disturbance. She immediately appeared next to vinyl scratch, fully dressed in some outlandish, fish-themed outfit, with her hair fully done and looking as if she had showered with the water of the gods.

"Ready!" pinkie pie squeaked. Vinyl laughed and murmured something to Mrs. Cake, which made her chuckle. Then the musician and fish-clad pony departed. The library and the bakery were not far, and they soon found themselves inside of Twilight's domain. The library wasn't full, being it was a Saturday. Twilight Sparkle and Spike were playing a board game, and rainbow dash was reading the latest daring doo book. Twilight sparkle saw vinyl and pinkie enter, and she rushed up to meet her idol.

"Hi DJ!" Twilight said, with the classic, almost stereotypical, gawkiness of a fan meeting a famous person. She levitated every musical book she had toward the front desk. "I got these for you, you being a musician and all" she forced a rather cheesy smile, to keep herself from doing things that would spoil the first impression, which already wasn't going well.

"Twilight Sparkle, I presume. Pleased to meet you! Celestia speaks highly of you. Seeing as were both so close to the princess, I can't believe we didn't meet sooner." she saw that the books were on the subject of music. "Oh, I won't need those. I need something about science."

Twilight's ears perked up. Now, vinyl was speaking her language.

"I have all sorts of magic and science books over here. Now, if you would be so kind as to follow me." She trotted off to the back of the library. Vinyl stayed.

"I need a book on theoretical physics, twilight."

Twilight stopped. She was under orders from the secretary of sciences not to reveal this information. But vinyl was the high administrator. She obviously needed it for something very important. But even if she helped vinyl, she wouldn't understand, and would turn to the magic and science committee. Then, twilight would be in trouble. She decided not to let her have the book.

"I keep all my science notes in my personal notebook. And I'm under orders from the equestrian government not to give them to anypony.

Vinyl Scratch looked shocked. "Twilight, what are you talking about? I am the government! Now please, can you just give me those notes?"

" I don't know what you need them for, but you can't have them. Theoretical physics is a very advanced and very dangerous field! The MSC would kill me if I gave them to you! The answer is no and that's final."

Pinkie pie trotted over to spike, and whispered in his ear. Spike nodded his head, and proceeded to the wall of the library. He spoke some words, and an opening slid. He crawled through, and returned with Twilight's notebook. A glance in Twilights direction revealed a heated debate, and it looked as if Vinyl Scratch was going to resort to violence. He broke up the argument, and spoke.

"Guys, stop fighting. Twilight, the book is spell bound. Break it. This is more important to the good of Equestria."

"Spike! What have you done? You broke the binding spell on my private chamber! The MSC knows now! This is treason spike!" She hung her head low as she heard the chariot outside of the library.

"1000 years in the Everfree prison….." The binding spell was of no use anymore. She broke the spell on the notebook, allowing it to be read. Iron sight walked into the room. Rainbow Dash recognized him.

"Iron Sight? Hey, I know what you're here for. I heard everything. Don't take my friends, please! You know me, it doesn't have to happen like this!"

Iron sight spoke. "Calm down dash. This isn't about the race. And I promoted from the MSC a long time ago. I'm supposed to bring you to the princess at once. I don't know what for, but she seemed pretty scared about something. Well, I've got everyone else, and I just need y'all to get in the chariot."

The group followed the guard pony outside, and joined the rest of Twilight's friends, and Princess Luna, in the chariot. They flew off, wondering what the princess of the sun had in store for them.

Sent from my iPod


	5. Five Characters in Search of an Exit

Journey of Saurik. pt 1 ch.5: Big Four

Vinyl Scratch was clopping a beat with her hooves on the floor of the chariot, as it flew through the air. The air around the 9 passengers was laden with confusion, as nopony knew what was going on or why the princess needed them. The tensity between twilight sparkle and vinyl scratch was tangible, and nobody spoke, for fear of igniting a flame between the two. The longest conversation held on the chariot, was between rainbow dash and sword master. It consisted of nine words, and occurred when a storm blocked the flight path. SwordMaster shot an angry glare back at her when she saw this. Rainbow dash shrugged and said, "It's my week off, I don't know the schedule". Luna read the pointers for the meeting over and over, and pinkie pies fish costume disappeared. In its place, a bazooka like object was present, and was branded with the words SILENCE BREAKER. She raised it and aimed in front of the carriage, but applejack made her lower it. And this is how it went until they arrived at the castle. Each Pony doing their own thing. Twilight was still under the impression that she was under the charges of treason; her head hung low, and the occasional tear slid down her cheek. After another hour or so, the Pegasi guards hovered over one of the balconies of canterlot castle. The group murmured to themselves as they parted. Princess Celestia appeared, with one of her consuls giving her an economic report. They traded a few words, and then she turned to the group.

"Hello everyone! It is so good to see all of you again! It's simply been too long." she said to them with joy, half genuine, and half forced. "If you will all come with me, then I will show you your accommodations"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Now wait just a minute. What do you mean by accommodations?"

"why your accommodations! Your places to live of course!"

"I appreciate the offer, but, I have to get back to the farm! An apples work is never done, and my family needs me! Them apples ain't gonna buck themselves "

"Oh, I've taken care of that. As I did for the rest of you and your affairs. Well, now, if you'll follow me." Celestia led them up the stairs, leaving Luna and Vinyl behind. A few minutes later, they were back aboard the carriage, speeding off toward trottingham. As the morning sun climbed into the sky, vinyl scratch and Luna fell asleep, gaining access to the time warping the act seems to allow.

After a few hours, the Pair found themselves in the trottingham debate hall. It had been doubling as the stock exchange since the ponyville building was damaged in a storm, but today, it had been cleared out to contain the foreign delegates. Only political and law matters would be entertained today. Vinyl Scratch had left in search of the restroom, and Tezzella and Kree were avoiding each other, an old unwritten rule of meetings of this nature. But there was another member of the party that had been unexpected. A dragon. Luna knew not of this, but when he approached her, the mystery was revealed.

"Ah you must be Luna. May I saw, you look amazing in that dress."

Luna turned red and giggled. "Hello to you too. What's your name, gentlepon- err, dragon?"

"My name is clutch, philosopher to Aezar. Celestia asked me to be present at today's meeting. "

Luna thought about this circumstance. All of the major leaders were busy or otherwise declined to come to the meeting. Only the ones second to the leaders were in attendance. Now, a real agreement could be made, without the clouded judgment of leadership on their persons.

"Ah, so you are from the Uzuzoilae Republic? Or the Sazquiza region?" she asked in reply.

"Oh, those were formed together years ago. A bit of my handiwork. Didn't you know?"

Luna kicked herself mentally. "Sorry, I don't really keep an eye on the world. That's the Administrator's job really."

"Speaking of which, here I am! Who's this Luna?" said Vinyl.

"This is the ambassador from the dragon nation. His name is clutch."

Clutch bowed, and extended a claw, and vinyl scratch shook it. Then, clutch noticed the glasses.

"Wait a minute. You're DJ-pon3! Imagine that! You, one of the best musicians of all time, head of a major nation. Incredible. Can you sign this for Aezar and I?" He held up a recording of the AppleJam set.

Vinyl was used to this kind of attention, and it rarely made her feel awkward anymore. "Why thank you, always nice to see a fan. But I'm gonna have to hold on to this, and get you pinkies autograph too. She played that shin dig."

There was a bell sound, and then a pony with a clipboard shouted, "Meeting 19 in session!"

"Looks like that's our cue. See you inside, clutch."  
>Vinyl and Luna walked toward the Meeting room, and vinyl spoke to Luna concerning clutch.<p>

"What was with him, he's pretty swag."  
>"I know he's such a gentleman!" her face turned read at the thought. Vinyl rolled her eyes." Get those hearts away out of your eyes." "He's mine, vinyl. Lay off him." They came up on the room, and the delegates greeted and introduced each other. When they all sat down, Luna went up to the podium. She was the arbiter of the meeting, and handled all of the proceedings. Kree was first to speak. She had an earpiece and microphone in her ear<p>

"High Empress jezebel wishes me to voice her concerns, and demands to know why Equestria has two representatives. "Vinyl scratch silenced her.

"Quiet Kree, if your empress wants to ask questions, she should have come here."

"Silence, both of you." Luna Snapped. "Now, let's go over the procedure. The first order of today, the rejection of peace treaty."  
>Tezzella butted in. "and the confederacy's continued acts of aggression toward the griffons and the dragons"<p>

Thank you, for that.  
>We are going to come to an agreement for the good of all countries. After this, the floor will open to anyone that wishes to speak." she motioned to Tezzella with an upward motion, hinting something. Tezzella took out a Smartphone like device and looked at it. She hit the screen, and put it away. The camera in the room was deactivated, and Kree's earpiece Transmitted only static.<p>

"Guys, our leaders are convinced that war is inevitable. Over the past ten years, the political state of the entire world deteriorated. We are the largest and most prominently nations in the entire world. We need to come to an agreement today. It doesn't matter what it is at this point. The money is low, and the tensions are high, and unless we, the ones without any sort of crazy notions and mindsets, fix it. Agreed?"

The decision was unanimous. Agreed.

"The first rider of business, Kree, is for you to speak. This is a chance for you to explain the actions of your nation

Kree sighed and put his paw on his head in thought. Now, Kree was good at heart, and he believed it was a misfortune to be the second in command of the aggressor nation. He didn't want to anger the others, and ended up stumbling over himself trying to think of something to say. He combined these half formed ideas into a speech.

"Ok everyone, well, I am advisor to Jezebel. I'm second in command to her, but that doesn't mean she can't supersede my orders. I can't give the land back that we took from the griffons, or release the dragons we have in captivity, neither can I lift the trade restrictions from Equestria...things in the confederacy are starting to crumble. Our money is tight, and...well, she's more of a dictator than an emperor. I propose that we form a new agreement entailing all of us, instead of the loose web of stuff we have now. That sort of thing is still in my command."

Clutch and Vinyl Scratch high fived each other and everyone clapped. Kree smiled.

"Excellent course of action. Let's get started"

"Wait. In order for this to work, we all have to run this by our leaders. What if jezebel refuses to sign it? Like you said, she's more of a dictator. "Vinyl scratch said with uncertainty.

"Yeah, what if Aezar doesn't go for it? Ever since the paramites took the dragons captive, he's been logophobic of the word "confederacy"

Tezzella looked deep in thought.

"Guys were getting ahead of ourselves. There is no reason for this. Let's just write it, okay?" she levitated some paper and a pen, and the delegates began to talk about the things to address. Then Tezzella spoke.

"Stop. I have a way we can make this work. We need to write this in a way that will fool our leaders, and Fix the confederacy's errors. Then when jezebel refuses to honor it, we can aggress with no consequence. I'll write it. I'm very good with words."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "That is very radical Tezzella. We could all loose out political status if they find out."

"Do you want this to fail Luna? We have to take the offensive. The fate of the world hinges on this price of paper. If it doesn't work forever, it can at least buy us enough time to figure out something that will."

Tezzella was staring down Luna, and Luna sighed dejectedly. "Luna, sign the bottom of the paper."

Luna took the pen reluctantly, and shakily, as if at gunpoint, she signed her name.

"Good, now come down from there, and help us write this treaty."

Luna smiled. "With pleasure"

Clutch also smiled, and he pulled from a bag a collection of alcohol from his homeland.

"Drink, and let's get this started. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship. For ourselves, and for our nations. A toast, to the future!"

Everyone raised their bottles in response. "To the future!"


	6. Game Plan

Ah, you told me of this. This is the prophecy of resilience right?"  
>Said Twilight sparkle. Her voice reverberated inside of the royal suite that used to be her home until she left for ponyville. The room was big, and outfitted with anything the ponies needed. Tons of stuff, couches, beds, books, film reels, food piles hidden away in cabinets, even a butler that provided anything they wished. Celestia was explaining to them the prophecy. Vinyl Scratch and Luna had also returned from a successful meeting.<p>

"Yes, this whole book was written in some ancient language-"

There was a bang at the door, and Celestia opened it. Beyond the marble threshold was a pony in a suit, and detachment of guards. The suited one spoke.

"Celestia, you must move aside. The Magic and Science Committee hereby pronounce Twilight Sparkle and the dragon Spike under arrest, for committing acts of treason against-"

"Silver Dollar, you're the head of the MSC right?" Celestia said sweetly. Silver Dollar nodded.

"Well, not anymore! You're fired." Silver Dollar was gone in a flash of magic, emanating from Celestias horn. Fluttershy spoke up.

"Wait, you didn't send him to the moon did you? Um, I hope you don't mind me saying, but, uh, don't you think that's a little harsh?"

Celestia laughed. "No Fluttershy, I didn't banish him to the moon. I banished him to Phobos." Vinyl Scratch gave a laugh. "Phobos? You banish children there for tussling. I escaped from there no sweat!"

"I remember. That's partly why you get to be administrator." A guard appeared, whispered in Celestia's ear.

"Got it. Girls, please, make yourselves at home. I need to attend to some *spit* unfinished business. I'll leave the prophesy here." she left in a hurry, frantically speaking with the guard until her figure and voice were gone.

"I wonder why she spits like that. It's so unladylike. And for a princess! It's simply atrocious!"

"She's under a lot of stress rarity. It's a nervous tick." twilight explained. She surrounded the book with a magic field, and opened it to the table of contents. From what she gathered, it was a detailed book of instructions for how ponies should lead their lives, use the technology hidden in the caches, and a history of "the end". The catastrophic event that ended their civilization. She flipped the pages and found a map that showed the locations of all the caches, and an inventory of what was in them.

"Incredible...they were masters of electricity, they sent the selves beyond the sky, they enabled instantaneous communications...these precceeders were highly advanced."

"It don't make no sense how these guys knew about all this, I mean, why? How do they know what's gonna happen in the future?" Applejack said.

"Well, maybe it something to do with that freaky deaky super squeaky physics that twilight has in her notebook!" Pinkie Pie said.

At the mention of the notebook, twilight looked down at her hooves. Then she turned toward Vinyl Scratch.

"Hey Vinyl Scratch, I'm sorry for what happened at the library. I got too wrapped up in the state affairs...I shouldn't have denied you."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. It's just...weird things have been happening, and I've been on edge."

"That seems to be going around. What happened with you?" she inquired.

"Sit down Twi, this is a long story."

She sat.

"Well, last year, at the height of my career as both a musician and a politician..."

Fluttershy fell asleep as she went on. Her mind subconsciously registered the story.

"If that's what you needs the book for, why didn't you just tell me? I would have put up less resistance. Here go to section 3" Twilight said.  
>She handed Pinkie Pie her notebook, and she opened to section three, reading its contents aloud.<p>

"Section 3.1- Dragon/Confederacy quantum vibration experiments.

Saturday, March 14, 3002p  
>the dragon and paramites have always been partnered with each other, that is certain. But the thing that worries me is their union in technology and science. The dragons and paramites do not have magic based societies. Even though they are not completely devoid of magic, they are far more technologically advanced. We have 12 super computers, they, collectively, have 145. We have a basic grasp of electricity, they have mastered it. The tech we do have comes from whatever we have recovered from what we know to be the Precceeders caches, and whatever we have shared with the Technologically superior Sezians, who do not have any magical ability whatsoever, and rely on Equestria for magical services and products. (Note: ask Celsetia to fund more scientifically oriented research)<p>

The Paramite excavation of the Karrn peninsula has unearthed what the prophecy of resilience calls, "The quantum source" as well as knowledge for the idea of entanglement. Allegedly, they have recovered information on how to build a quantum based teleportation device. From what I gather, it cannot provide transportation from place to place like magic can, but rather, across planes. The lucky scientist that gets to see...I'd give half my horn to work on that.

Wednesday, March 21, 3002p  
>Celestia has authorized a special team to infiltrate the dragonParamite Skylab, and recover the contents of the quantum vault. Luna will be participating. I'm scared for her. They will be infiltrating a base that use a cannon, and then commandeering it to shoot down a sub-orbit research station.

Mission success. All recovered data was sent to me and I sent a copy to Ditzy. Maybe she can make heads or tails of this.

April 2, Monday, 3002p  
>Appleseed has accepted my plea for help. The storage of all the equations and scientific notes are too much for me to store here. Luna's team wasn't able to get the source, but they reported that the paramites were unable to do build a quantum vibration machine. "<p>

She started to shake and a smile appeared on her face.

"Stand back guys, she's about to be brilliant." Rainbow screamed.

Pinkie pie inhaled, and tensed up as if expecting to explode. And then she she sneezed.

"Sorry everyone. False alarm. No brilliance. But I do have an idea! Maybe the quantum thingamajig is what I need to power the vibrator I was working on!"

Twilight sparkle looked up from her book. "What? You have a quantum vibrator? From where?"

"I received instructions from the 4WI! Weren't you listening?"

"Whoa twilight, listen to yourself. I know you kinda an egghead, but be logical. Alternate dimensions, aliens? You don't actually believe this, do you?" Rainbow dash said.

"Well, the prophecy did say "the next plane"

Rarity spoke." Well, I think we should go find some of those vaults. They might contain more of this source. And who knows what sort of fashions we might find!"

"Oh Rarity! You're so silly! That's an excellent idea! I'll load up my party cannon."

"Uh, we won't be be needing any of that, sugar cube. But that is a good idea. We better start soon, who knows what might happen if we wait."

"Then it's settled." twilight said. "The Search begins. I'll look through the book and we where we should start. Vinyl, could you go get Ditzy and Luna? They disappeared somewhere."

Celestia had overheard the plan as she walked by. "The race is on, girls." she said worriedly. She walked to the window, and looked out upon the equestrian night. The future was uncertain. And Celestia was worried she was going to put her friends and her best student right in the middle of it. Things were going to be hard from now on.

Things were going to be hard for all of Equestria.


	7. Kree

"Why yes, Massa, we did."

"So it's over?"

"For now. At least there should be lessened tensions."

Kree was on a train back to the Capitol of the confederacy, talking to his assistant and long time friend of the meeting. The train finally stopped at the Capitol station. The city of Rawkeh was a huge metropolis. Slums and ghettos filled the center, while the richer people were along the edges and midways. He hopped off the train, holding his documents as if it were his own girlfriend. Indeed, he would have loved them more than a woman if they bore jezebel's name in them. The Capitol building of the city was a huge citadel, rising higher than than the clouds. He stepped inside, the receptionists waved him through. Kree was more of a regular there than Jezebel herself. He sighed, and his paws got sweaty. He pushed his glasses up toward his nose, as If to focus on the elevator coming his way. He stepped inside, and headed for the top floor.

The limestone doors of the elevator slowly slid open to reveal the office and living space of Jezebel herself, known to locals as the "principal's office" because if you had the misfortune to go there, you felt something akin to the grade school terror of being sent out of class. That feeling was often your last. But not for Kree. This was his home too. As advisor of external affairs, he, as well as the director of internal affairs, was required to live in the Capitol building. As he stepped out of the elevator, he went to his office to await her empress's return. His office, while not as big as the empress', was of impressive size. A decahedron, 45 meters to each side. There was a large window, where he had a big easy chair set up. There were various appliances and cabinets, work stations, beds, anything typical of a regular house, all in perfect symmetry with each other, and in perfect symmetry with the office at the other end of the hall. Kree sat down on the chair next to his computer. He started to open a few programs, but stopped. He looked at his computer. He stared at it. He thought about the computer, and why Jezebel and the Sezians denied Equestria access to it. Sure, they have them. But why don't we share? What motives did she have?

He opened the word processor on his computer and located a document that he had been tasked to decipher. He also opened another program that recorded sound. Although he couldn't see the microphone, it was sensitive enough that it would pick up his words clearly.

"Log 16-4. I have returned from the conference with  
>the others, and we have a solution for this crumbling political state. All it needs is jezebel's signature. Then it's over. Now, to the task at hand. Ever since the targeting failure on cannon six, we haven't had anything that we recovered from the vault. But, we do have this document. It was found there. I'm almost finished with its decryption."<p>

He tapped a few keys, and the characters on the screen scrambled. No dice. He did this a few more times and finally have something. A set of coordinates and the word "source"

And they were right under the Capitol building.

Kree was instantly gone from his office. The director was able to catch the slightest glimpse of his face before the elevator doors slid shut. It was a mix of excitement and fear.

Spiraling downward, the elevator, old as it was, held steady. Kree had other ideas. He had no knife and no tools but he had his unique recessive trait. He looked around and for the emergency exit. A nerve impulse later, his paws, were now claws. "I love genetics..." he murmured. Kree sliced off the cable holding the door in place, and climbed up to the top of the car. There were two cables that held the car to the building. An electric cable that activated the brake, and the pulley. He slashed, and the cables flew wildly about in the air. Without the tension of the elevator car, he flew upward, clutching the pulley cable. Then, upon reach, he grabbed a pipe on the ceiling. He sheathed his claws and climbed down to see what sort of secrets were under the building.

The hopes he had were realized. Kree climbed into the elevator car, and pressed a button. It was a manual system in case of emergency. The door gave a cliché ding, and it jerked open into a tunnel with a faint glow at the end of him. This tunnel turned into others, evolving steadily into a maze, guided only by the faint blue glow. As he neared the source of the glow, he became more and more agitated. It may have been the dark catacombs, or his paranoia associated with his job, but he had the feeling of being watched. Then finally, he hit it. There was a black steel door, with a puzzle slide on it. He could just barely make out the sliders and what they said, but he solved the puzzle by fitting shapes together. When he completed the puzzle, it formed the shape of an atom. The door separated into three triangular regions, and they slid diagonally into the rock. The sight that Kree was to behold was incredible.

The door slid open to real a gargantuan room, about 2 miles long on each side. There were things stacked in places, each having to do with the molecular sciences. Boxes of blueprints, books, research, piled high, almost to the ceiling. There was machinery, piled along the walls. The room was illuminated by the most glorious sight of all.  
>An enormous ball, holding itself in the air. It shimmered and waved like water, but it stood like a solid. His eyes were fixed to it, and he walked toward it. Something compelled him to reach out and touch it. Kree reached out and scooped up a piece of the stuff, and it turned into a gas...save for that he could hold it in his hand. He smiled; he had found the source they sought so much.<p>

Kree felt weird, as if something in his body was displaced. His midsection felt wet. He looked down, and there was a blade sticking out of his chest. He turned, and saw the empress Jezebel, the hilt clutched within her paw.

"Kree, you have been good to me. But that little stunt at the conference ...tsk tsk tsk"

Kree stuttered, beginning to feel the effects of her deadly stab. "...h...h...how..."

"Oh Kree, you don't think it will be that easy to keep me out of the loop? I knew everything. Anyways, you have done me a huge favor, finding source, and a quantum vibration machine. So I signed your treaty."

She let the paper go, and it fell. At this point, Kree was on the ground. He saw the paper fall in front of his face.

"There is an equestrian, a certain one that I want to replace you with. You might know him."

She started forward, and stopped. She reached into a bag she was wearing. She pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and puffed it for awhile. There was an evil glint in her eyes. She tossed the cigarette on the ball of source that Kree was holding. It ignited, inching in both directions, burning his fur. The last thing Kree saw was the treaty burning up, before the flames consumed his eyes.

"Goodbye Kree. Don't worry about being lonely, you'll be seeing your pony friends soon enough."

Jezebel walked toward the tunnels, and left him, dying on the ground.


	8. Planning the Improbable

The university stood high on the Archers Hill. University of Campton was the premier institute of higher learning in the eastern hemisphere. It was also the workplace of Professor Harold Serby, the world's foremost mind in quantum physics. He was a teacher of theoretical physics, and was working on an invention that would revolutionize the way humanity looked at the world.

It was midday, on a Saturday in spring. Instead of working on his greatest contribution to physics, Serby was in a quiet cafe on Camden st. With his favorite students, their eyes glued to the plasma screen on the wall. There weren't any sports or politics on the screen, but rather, the new hit cartoon. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Accompanying him were his friends, A+ students, and fellow bronies. Kelly, a girl from the United States, James, a Britain, Tsang, from Taiwan, and Cossette, named after the famous French play.

The episode was wrapping up with a friendship report on something pertaining to racism. Kelly turned to Harold and sipped her coffee.

"So. Harry. How is the quantum world about to be rocked at the expo next week?"

"It isn't...I can't power my experiment. Everything is right, but one thing. The connection through space-time isn't strong enough. I can only send a repeated message."

"Can't you increase the energy input with more of the atomic fission?" James asked. Professor Serby had won the Nobel peace prize for finding a way to use a nuclear explosion to fuel machines with high power, like Supercolliders, and power grids of large cities. He owned half of the entire world's nuclear arsenal. With a near limitless supply of nukes, he thought he would have ample power to power his machine. But he was wrong. He would need to figure out an alternate way to get the power he needed.

Tsang spoke up. "Dr. I have an idea. What if strings aren't the only thing that makes up the universe?"

"Balderdash" Serby replied. "The mathematics behind that idea have been proven wrong on countless occasions"

"Come on teach. You're trying to make contact with sentient, colored ponies. From a TV show. You may as well try it."

"Alright. What's your idea, squinty?" It was an inside joke among them. Tsangs eyes were huge, in contrast to the typical stereotypes of Asian people.

"We need a string. A macrostring. If we can get one, and stretch it until it snaps, we might generate enough energy to give your machine power."

"An idea proposed by many. How do you suppose to do this?"

"We can stabilize our wavefuntions to spread us out. Then we can collapse them at the point level, inside a string."

Cossette spoke, "But how do you propose getting down there? The smallest particles can't be made smaller."

"Not necessarily." Serby interjected "The point particles would still be point particles, just smaller. But how do you suppose to upscale the string?"

"Remember how you figured out that strings were hollow? Well, perhaps it's like a food chain. The most energy is at the bottom. If we can smash two point particles together, the energy from the collision might inflate the string like a balloon. "James said. Serby was incredibly skeptical, but the idea was sound.

"Hmmmm...it wasn't long ago that uncertainty based teleportation was proposed...but how?"

Kelly spoke, "We could modify your string device. That might work."

The Professor smiled. "You truly are the best students. I expect a thesis on my desk tomorrow morning. I'll see you around campus."

Serby got up and left after paying his dues to the cashier.

He drove his car, a red sports car, to the labs where he did his research. The complex was underground, and housed his creation. A quantum tuning machine. It's the machine he had been using to tune the parts of the universe to other frequencies. It only needed a few modifications in order to become the teleporter they needed.

He could sense something odd about the coming events. His machine would definitely have some sort of impact. It was all he could hope for to not break the Natural order of things.

Often he wondered if the human race was too smart for their own good. "Prove me wrong" he whispered to the machine.


	9. The friend of your enemy is your friend

E-1-9: The friend of your enemy is your friend.

"CELESTIA! CELESTIA! SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAS HAPPENED! CELESTIA!"  
>Rose Thorn, the royal prison master, was running frantically throughout Canterlot castle. Celestia was in the garden, playing chess with Vinyl Scratch. Rose Petal finally came up to them, wheezing and sweating profusely.<br>"You ain't lookin so good Rose, what's up?" Vinyl said with a raised eyebrow. Celestia took a swig of the fruit drink she had.

"It's discord...he has escaped! His cell is empty. His statue is all broken..."

Celestia's eyes widened and she spit out her drink.  
>"What do you mean, escaped? Nobody has escaped from Canterlot Penitentiary...I designed it myself and placed the security enchantments myself...you can seriously be..."<p>

"I am your highness. No trace."

Princess Luna flew across the garden and touched down next to them.

"Hey Everypony. You guys know that discord broke out of maximum security? I checked the prisoner manifest right after I heard. No record, missing file, as if MS1 never housed him.

"He's been in there for four years! Ditzy Doo herself built the chaos inhibitor. Discord couldn't have tried that quantum stuff even if he tried." Rose exclaimed. Vinyl looked deep in thought.

"Luna, who else is in maximum security?"

Luna's horn glowed, and a scroll with a list appeared in a flash of green fire. Luna looked down the list as it increased from minor to major infractions.

"Umm, we have Pinkie Pie listed here." Her horn glowed, and her name disappeared. "And the slot where discord would have been. There is Chrysalis Delta, Changeling queen. I thought her term was up?"

Rose Thorn spoke. "Her time for trying to start a coup against the confederacy was supposed to be up two months ago, but since her second in command attacked Canterlot, she's been awaiting trial for terrorism."

"I'll need her file. I want everything known about her on my office desk in two hours."

Rose Thorn nodded his head, and left the garden in a hurried manner. Celestia also left. Luna turned to Vinyl.

"Celestia is spooked. Did you see the look on her face?"

"Yes, yes I did. Ever think she needs a vacation?"

"War doesn't take vacations, Vinyl..."

Luna flew off to her room in the castle. Vinyl dosed off. Her hoof knocked the king on the chess board off and it tumbled to the ground.

After awhile, Vinyl woke up to Ditzy Doo, hovering over her. "Here are those files you requested. All about Chrysalis Delta."

"Thank you." She took a minute to skim the Changeling queen's file. She came across an entry concerning her time in the resistance army and her failed coup, and a romantic involvement with one of her generals. His name was three star general. Flip Switch. The name was familiar to Vinyl Scratch.

"I want to go and see her. I need to get to the bottom of this."

"Me too. The whole thing is just a big mess." Ditzy sat down on one of the chairs next to Vinyl, but she had a habit of rocking, and she rocked herself right out of the chair.

"Well, someone is really a derpy hooves" Vinyl joked. Then she sighed.  
>"Ditzy, you are the best inventor I've ever seen. You created devices that can deny chaos. If anyone can bring Equestria into full modernization, it would be you. How can a being that lives off the chaos of the world, return to power in an environment of order?"<p>

"I don't know..." Ditzy sighed. "Maybe some kind of outside influence?"

"What kind of outside influence?"

"Pinkie was picking up signals with your equipment."

"Whoever they are, I'm sure they don't want to release the most powerful and dangerous force in the universe. Or even know how to."

"Well...nevermind. C'mon. Let's go see what the changeling queen is up to."

A short wagon ride later, they were outside the prison. The equestrian military had been enlisted to bolster security. The two ponies that wished to enter could be trusted, however. Everypony knew that. They had no trouble getting through the heavily guarded front gate. After they passed through the security checkpoints, she encountered Shining Armor, arguing with Rose Thorn. Vinyl raised her voice above both of them.

"REGIMENT ATTENTION!"

"HUT" they both replied, and they snapped into a stiff, trance like position, along with any others soldier in earshot. Vinyl rarely exercised her military rank as administrator, but she would be lying if she said it wasn't fun.

"At ease." she said. Everypony at attention relaxed.  
>"Hey shining."<br>"Hey Vinyl. Hello Derpy."  
>"Hi" Ditzy said with a slightly annoyed tone. "We are looking for the Changeling queen. Seen her?"<p>

"She's been moved to the arsenic room. C'mon, Rose and I will take you there."

"The arsenic room?" Ditzy asked. Vinyl shrugged.

In the Corner of the room there was an elevator that led to the lower levels of the prison. Three ponies made it in, but Ditzy had somehow gotten tangled on the laser security net. A part of checkpoint 3. After a quick flip of the power switch, Ditzy was free and in the elevator. She had an expression as if she was in the elevator the whole time, but her face was redder than a tomato.

The elevator descended, and ground to a halt at the bottom floor of the prison. There was a space below the last official floor, where the most dangerous criminals were moved. The elevator opened, and the air was removed, out of beauty and another element.

The Arsenic floor was an underground glade, with lakes and trees. Even waterfalls. But there was something wrong. It was as if the waterfalls and lakes were glowing. Even the atmosphere had a soft red glow. Instead of the prisoners being silent, they were screaming in anguish. Some were screaming and rolling on the floor, as if they were set ablaze. Others were green or pale, and were too weak too much else but moan. Pinkie Pie had somehow gotten into a cell, and was bouncing around happily. Shining Armor was casting a protective spell over the ponies accompanying him. Ditzy looked stunned.

"This isn't a prison...this is a torture room!" she exclaimed. Prisoners were calling for help. Rose Thorn and Shining Armor looked oblivious to the agony of the ponies in the cells.

"Well, this place isn't exactly something we can share publicly" remarked Rose Thorn. "This dungeon has been here since pre-discordian times. We've only keep the ponies that deserve this here."

"What kind of pony would deserve this?!" Ditzy said, half angered and half displaced.

"How about him? He's the one that killed your parents. He's over there." Rose Thorn raised his hoof and pointed behind ditzy.

Ditzy turned around to a behold a pony in a cell. Her crossed eyes came into focus on the name plate. Flip Switch.  
>Her eyes started to tear up as she relived the horrible memories of her fillyhood...and uttered a low whimper when the criminal was able to distract himself from his anguish, and draw enough strength to match her gaze.<p>

"Why is everybody screaming?" Vinyl asked, trying to derail the current situation. The group continued forward. Ditzy was able to swallow her tears.

"See that red glow?" Rose Thorn replied. "That's why we call this room, The Arsenic Room. The atmosphere is based of Arsenic and Allium, the magical element. It gives the Particles in the air a charge and also causes that red glow. The river is made up of liquid arsenic and Allium oxides, with a little bit of water. It recycles the air. Keeps it fresh and lethal. The arsenic, based on its charge, will either poison or eat away at them."

"So why hasn't anyone died?"

"The trees keep the prisoners alive. It's a subterranean form of pine that keeps people alive by smelling its fragrance. We haven't exactly figured out how this works."  
>Shining Armor chuckled. "You sound like a chemist." he remarked.<p>

Vinyl noticed that the inmates were in rows of cells. Each cell had a tree next to it. It must have been lunch time. Bowls and plates of food were either untouched or were expelled from their bodies, leaving it in pools of digestive fluids. At the end the room, there was a brick cube with some wires coming out of it. It was marked with letters. C-D.

"That's the shape shifters cell." said Shining armor.

Queen Chrysalis was the only one in this portion of the prison not to scream. When the door opened, she was sitting down, listening to a recording of a love song on a phonograph. She sighed, sensing the others in the room, but not turning around.

"What do you think it would feel like, if you had to listen to your food to get its energy? Like, if you couldn't eat it. I can tell you that it doesn't feel very nice. " She said.  
>Ditzy made a motion, and Shining Armor nodded eagerly. The Two guards left the room.<p>

Vinyl Scratch's red eyes were glaring into Chrysalis' green slits.

"I know why you're here. Everyone does. Well, here I am. What do you want to know?"

Vinyl took some scraps of metal out of a bag and slung them down at Chrysalis' hooves.

"Those are the remains a chaos inhibitor. Its function is to suppress chaos and keep the entropy of an area low. This particular chaos inhibitor was built, hooves-made, by Ditzy." Ditzy gave a nod to affirm the statement. "Its express purpose was to contain Discord so that he couldn't try his physics tricks. And now, he is gone. No record of him exists here. Care to give me an explanation as to why? You do seem to know a bit about how change."

Chrysalis stopped her song, and sighed, mumbling something about real food. Then she turned to Vinyl Scratch.

"I don't know anything. I'm a changeling. I'm a math whiz, but I haven't really got a clue about your...friend." she proclaimed in a rather loud voice. Ditzy grabbed a device out of Vinyl's bag and clicked a button. Then she walked towards the changeling.

"You tell us what you know, and we let you free." Ditzy said. "You know about entropy. You know about change. Something changed in here. You know what."

"I don't want freedom...I want love. Real love. I'm so hungry, you don't understand..."

"We let you go. You'll be free by the end of the week."

"So. You wanna know what's up? There was a sudden spike in the quantum make up of this place. Change went rampant. There was some sort of outside interference. I can't tell you where he's going. But...there was a Changeling that I'm close to. He's disguised as a guard here, bringing me new songs to feed off of. He told me that discord going to take back what's his. Now, Kree is dead. There is a power vacuum in the Confederacy. They broke him out when they dug into that vault. They redirected a pre existing quantum disturbance. I would keep my eye on their political situation. Something might come up as to his whereabouts. Don't trust those weasels, Vinyl."

"Thanks. See you around." Vinyl said dismissively

Chrysalis spoke and her words bounced around in Vinyl's head.

"You are part of something bigger than you can ever imagine. Everything you know is going to change. You had better not screw this up."

(Experiment with dark. I wanted to see what kind of emotional rise I could get….and it's a big symbol, for you analysts out there. More coming soon.)


	10. Algebra lesson

In the few weeks since Ditzy Doo had been relocated to Canterlot, Celestia had her put on the Canterlot mail delivery team. Her route took her about a zigzagged path all throughout the city. Canterlot was a busier city than Ponyville. Hence, her mail route was more difficult. She liked it, however. It gave her time to reflect on her current situation. Why and what? Those were the questions that constantly ran through her head. Why was she here? What is that Prophesy that Celestia uncovered? Why isn't Equestria fully modernized? What did Chrysalis mean?

As she flew through her mail route, theses and other mysteries of the universe flew through her mind. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she failed to register her steady ascension and also failed to see the carriage flying in her direction. She crashed into it and the ponies inside tumbled to the ground. Two royal guards flew to the rescue of the passengers. With lightning speed and expert precision, the two Pegasi had the falling ponies safely aboard the carriage again. One of them hovered over to Ditzy with a nasty glare on his face.

"By Celestia, you need to watch where you are going! This high off the ground...they could have been killed! I ought to-" His tone lightened up as he saw who it was. "Ditzy?"

Ditzy recognized the voice. "SwordMaster?"

Indeed it was. SwordMaster and his partner Iron sight were in the carriage. Ditzy shifted her awkward eyes from SwordMaster to the carriage. It bore the royal seal of Equestria on the side, which meant is was bound for the castle or somewhere of importance. That merited the fact that the ponies inside were also had some degree of significance. She took a peek inside. There were six ponies, a Paramite, and a dragon, all clad in suits.

"These are the new advisors to princess Celestia. She's decided to have a panel of advisors to help her with the current political state." he leaned in closer and whispered, "Don't mention this but I think it's just to ease the stress a little bit."  
>Most of the advisors in the carriage were shaken from the fall, their suits untidy and manes made messy, and had less than happy looks toward ditzy. But there was one that was in perfect order, and had an expressionless look. His was mane was blue with black streaks, and his eyes were green. He wore a top hat. But there was something odd that pony. It was as if his staring face was a mask. Ditzy blinked, and his eyes changed from eyes with irises, from eyes with a pale blue tinge. She blinked again and the eyes were back to normal. She had been so transfixed on this pony that she had tuned out SwordMaster.<p>

"-ascension rules, you have to be more careful. You have got to think. Anyways, it was good to run into you. See you round the castle, yeah?"

With that, the carriage flew away. Ditzy had some slack to pick up, so she sped along her mail route and quickly finished. Once the last package had exchanged hooves, she landed and walked into a local coffee shop she liked to visit after she finished her days work. The barista there quickly grew to know her, and knew her order well. Ditzy found it in the corner in her favorite seat. A chair and table by the window held a banana nut muffin and some milk. She went over, took a sip of milk and took a notepad out of her bag. It was company policy to note all of the mail route events.

"-Route no. 37. Operator-Caramel dream/Delivery-Ditzy Doo  
>Today's route was a little bit more than the average day. Due to my own clumsiness, I collided with a carriage bearing the royal seal. I wasn't punished, but simply reprimanded for my error. I did note, a very odd looking gentlepony was staring at me. I apologized and moved on. As I went fr-"<p>

Ditzy was distracted by a ring of the bell that hung above the front door of the cafe. Inside walked a pony with blue eyes and a brown mane. Ditzy looked at her for a minute, and continued to write. The pony walked over to where ditzy was sitting.

"May I sit here?" she asked. Without a response, she planted herself in the chair. Ditzy paid no attention. Then something happened that got her attention quite well.

"I have something for you" ditzy said.

Ditzy hooves looked up to see herself sitting across the table. The pony that had sat down had changed. The lookalike spoke again.  
>"You're confused. Let me shed a little light on the situation. My name is Algebra. It means study of change. All changelings have names that do with change. "<p>

"So you are a changeling..." Ditzy said.

"Yes, that's right. I really had to thank you in person for letting our queen go. Now, there is something you should know. Those people that Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie pie received a signal from. They are very important. You don't know it, they don't know it, and neither does anypony else. But this world is about to end. Do you know of a force called entropy"

"Of course? The entropy principle states that a state of order will degrade into a state of disorder...and eventually...by the sun..."

"That's right. You of all ponies should know. So. Discord has escaped. Shall I tell you how?"

"Alright" ditzy replied, still in shock.

They found a vault with some quantum source and a vibration machine. They powered it up. Now, those people on the other end...they fourth wall initiative, they used a string as a particle collider. It caused major fluctuations in the space time continuum. Massive amounts of entropy. The Paramite confederacy used their machine to reroute this fluctuation to Discord's location. Your chaos inhibitor just couldn't take it. Discord was set free."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I was there. I was always there. I was there when Kree ran into the elevator. I was there when Clutch was flirting with Luna. I was there when you crashed into the carriage. I was one of the scientists with the Paramites plot to break out Discord. I'm Chrysalis' inside operative".

He took a glance at the clock on the wall. "I need to leave. I'll be seeing you." He got up and started for the door.

"Wait! What does all this have to do with me!" ditzy called after him.

Algebra turned around. "You don't really believe that those bubbles on your flank have anything to do with delivering mail, do you?" He began through the threshold, but stopped. And turned around once more. "Consider the Changelings as an ally. Call on us when you need us. Trust me. I'll be there."

With that, the shape shifter left.


End file.
